MELSANV MADE: The Ileana Crossbody Handbag

If you’ve been offline for the past few weeks or you don’t follow me on social media (rude), you may have missed my exciting new business venture announcement: handbag making! Let me flashback to my last post where I shared my first outfit at New York Fashion Week and my handmade floral bag.

It didn’t take me very long to realize I was onto something when I kept getting stopped at NYFW asking where my bag was from. Something about the idea of me sitting on my couch @ 3am putting together 30+ florals made people smile and I knew it was an sign for me to try something new.

If you’ve known me for even 15 mins, you’re well aware that I don’t think about things much before I jump into them (#trustyourgut). My abuelito would tell my mom, “Esa milanesa esta bien aventada!” which pretty much means that I fly by the seat of my pants. I jump and build my wings on the way down. It’s how I operate and function day-to-day and I think it’s a lot of the reason why I am the way I am. With that being said, I didn’t wait long to think about this idea. People want floral handbags, god damn it we give them floral handbags!!!

Kidding aside, I knew that I wanted there to be more to this (for me). Which is why I decided to name each handbag after a women in my life that has impacted me in some way. Instead of buying a bag that looks so fetch with your new Gucci loafers, I wanted to create bags with a female identity. I want each bag to sing her own song, to march to the beat of her own drum, and for you to take away a little piece of my heart when you buy one of my bags. I really started to think about a shopping experience where you feel connected with items because they have a story and not because they’re #ontrend. Know what I mean? I really hope you love them as much as I love coming up with the color palettes, or finding the right positioning of the florals. I’m super excited to share a little piece of my heart with you.

Less talk, more intro! Meet The Ileana Crossbody Bag! Ileana was the first adult friend I made when I moved to Tampa, FL. I was on my own for the first time ever and I knew no one – I knew nothing! I actually worked and went to school full time (14 hours a day, Monday-Friday) which meant that the only friends I ever made were either at work or classmates. Naturally, Ileana and I met but didn’t hit it off at first. We relive the story about how she thought I was stuck up and I thought she was a bitch when we first met. We laugh about how similar we are and how thankful we are to have overcome the dreaded first impression. She jokes about how I lived too far at the time and that there was no way she was going to hang out with someone who she had to drive 30 minutes to see. Guess how far we live now? 😉

Ileana is a force to be reckoned with. She runs toward the fire in a disaster. She’s unapologetic in the nicest way and can tell you to F#$% off so gracefully without you knowing it that it’s actually quite terrifying. Getting through life experiences with this chick by your side is like flying through a Chi-Fil-A drive thru on a Sunday – NO LINES, HONEY! Ileana’s favorite color is blue and if you ever gave her something in pink, she’d smile and say you were “so nice” and then ask to trade for a different color. Ileana knows every Beyonce song, lyric, headline, rumor, Destiny Child trivia question, etc.

Ileana is the type of woman who remembers every movie line and will come through in the clutch to finish the line when you’re in front of a ton of people who have no fking clue what you’re talking about. She’s ready to send you a follow-up meme when you have juicy gossip and will be your private investigator when you need the inside scoop on someone.

I made this bag after Ileana because she’s vibrant, she’s strong, she’s fun and caring and she reliable AF. She holds the most important things in your life because what’s important to you is also just as important to her. She’s going to ride with you in your Lyft on the way to your first date and she’s ready to make you stand out of the competition on your first day of work. Her bright orange crossbody strap tells you that she’s fiery and fun and her blue florals tell you that she’s safe and trustworthy.

I really hope you love her as much as I do!

If you want The Ileana Crossbody Bag, I’m supes excited to say that you can line up to meet her at an event I’m hosting in SOMA, called Femme Fair! Femme Fair is essentially a marketplace event of lifestyle bloggers selling their lightly-worn pieces of clothing along with other local artisans, all in the name of Women’s history month! A portion of our proceeds will be donated to Planned Parenthood and I can’t tell you how much excitement we’ve received about the event so far. I will have a booth setup selling my handbags and I’ll share a little more about each bag as the week goes on so stay tuned! You can get your Femme Fair tickets here: Femme Fair 2017

As for those who are asking, I am hoping to have more info about an online store soon. Hang tight and thank you so much for your sweet comments and support. I LOVE YOU ALL SO F– MUCH! 🙂